Article carrier



June 30, 1970 J. T. STOUT 3,

ARTICLE CARRIER Filed Sept. 15, 1968 g Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

4 ATTOPNEY June 30, 1970 i J, STQUT 3,517,876

ARTICLE CARRIER Filed Sept. 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 aff 68%; $9 5 70 $9 345 7/ $57 INVENTOR.

JAM/I55 2 5704/7 A T TORNEY 3,5l7',876 Patented June 30, 1970 Int. Cl. B65d /04 US. Cl. 229-40 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An article carrier of the wrap-around type is provided with spaced top and bottom walls interconnected by spaced side walls, the bottom wall being a composite panel formed of a pair of bottom panels secured together. For holding the packaged articles such as cans Within the wrapper, a plurality of chime engaging tabs are formed in the top wall and are foldable out of the plane thereof inwardly approximately 180 to form abutment ledges for engaging the recessed can ends and for securing the cans against dislodgment through the open ends of the wrapper. At the bottom of the carrier, reinforcing and retaining flaps are struck from the bottom panels and from the lower portions of the side walls to define article retaining apertures which together with the associated flaps constitute article gripping means. For use with bottles a similar wrapper incorporates apertures for receiving portions of the caps of the packaged bottles.

ended type, article retaining apertures are disposed at the carrier corners and are defined at least in part by reinforcing flaps struck from the carrier walls. Such flaps are struck from the carton blank in such manner that the fold lines adjoining the flap to the walls are straight lines and the portions of the flaps which are foldably joined to one wall are adjoined foldably to portions of the flaps which are joined to the other wall by fold lines which are substantially normal to the fold line between the walls. While such construction alfords a measure of reinforcement to the fold line between the walls, it is deficient as an article retaining means.

According to this invention pairs of flaps for each article are struck from foldably adjoined walls of a tubular carton and each flap constitutes a main portion and a supplementary portion struck from diiferent foldably joined walls, the main portion of each flap of a pair of flaps being foldably joined to its associated wall along a fold line which is disposed in divergent relation to the fold line for the main portion of the other flap of the pair of flaps in the direction of the fold line between the foldably adjoined walls. In addition, the fold lines for the supplementary parts of each pair of flaps may be disposed in divergent relation to each other in the direction away from the fold line between the foldably adjoined walls to define article retaining and aperture reinforcing means for the associated aperture although the angle of divergence of these fold lines is substantially smaller than the angle of divergence of the fold lines of the main flaps. Where the carrier blank is provided with tightening apertures such apertures may constitute extensions or de facto enlargments of the corner aperture and the main part of each flap may in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which" FIG. 1 is v a perspective view of a set-up can carrier constructed according to one form of the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line designated 2-2 in FIGS. 1 and 3; FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line designated 3-.3 in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank from which the carrier depicted in FIG. 1 is formed and in which FIGS. 5-8 correspond to FIGS. 1-4 respectively and depict a second form of the invention which is adapted for use in conjunction with bottles.

In the drawing, the numeral 1 generally designates the top panel of the carrier. It will be understood that this panel is designated as the top panel for the sake of convenience and that this panel conceivably could constitute the .botto m panel depending on the orientation of the finished package. Formed in the top panel 1 for engag ing the recessed ends of the packaged cans are the tabs 2, 3, 4 and 5. These tabs are foldably secured to the top panel by fold lines designated respectively at 6, 7, 8 and 9. The tabs 2-5 are simply folded downwardly and inwardly approximately 180 so that an abutment ledgeis formed for engaging the upwardly protruding chime of the end cans thereby to secure the cans against dislodgement through the open ends of the package.

For separating the cans in one row from the adjacent cans in the other row, a plurality of separator tabs 10, 1.1 and 12 are struck from the top panel 1 and are foldably joined thereto along their respective fold lines 13, 14 and 15. Separator tabs 10-12 are simply folded inwardlyapproximately and are interposed between the cans as is well known.

For the purpose of facilitating carrying of the package, finger gripping tabs 16 and 17 are struck from top panel 1 and are foldably joined thereto along fold lines 18 and 19 respectively.

The side walls 20 and 21 are foldably joined to the side edges of top panel 1 along fold lines 22 and 23 respectively. Bottom panel 24 is foldably joined along fold line 25 to the bottom edge of side wall 20 while bottom panel 26 is foldably joined along fold line 27 to the bottom edge of side wall 21.

In order to interconnect the bottom panels 24 and 26 and thereby to form a composite bottom panel for the carrier, the locking tabs 28-31 are driven through the openings defined by retaining tabs 32-35 respectively in a manner well known in the art.

When in assembled condition with the article C disposed within the wrapper, the bottom portions of the packaged cans in one row are separated from the bottom portions of the cans in the other row by the medial separator panel 36 which is foldably joined to bottom panel 24 along fold line 37 in a manner well known in the art.

In order to facilitate opening of the package, a pull tab 38 is formed in one of the side walls such as 21 and cooperates with a plurality of cuts generally designated by the numeral 39 so that a pull exerted on tab 38 effectively tears the side wall 21 and renders the packaged items C readily accessible to the ultimate user.

For the purpose of tightening the wrapper about the packaged articles immediately prior to driving the locking tabs 28-31 into the openings defined by retaining tabs 32-35, tightening apertures are formed in the bottom panels 24 and 26. These tightening apertures receive machine elements which are manipulated so as to perform the desired tightening operation in a manner well known in the art. I

The tightening apertures designated generally by the numerals 40-42 in bottom panel 24 and the apertures designated by the numerals 43-45 in bottom panel 26 are provided with main flap elements. These flaps are designated by the numerals 46-57 in FIG. 4. Flap 46 is struck from the bottom panel 24 and is foldably joined thereto along fold line 58 While flap 47 is struck from bottom panel 24 and is foldably joined thereto along the fold line 59. In like fashion, the remaining flaps 48-57 are foldably joined to their associated bottom panels. Thus when machine elements enter the tightening apertures the flaps such as 46 and 47 are swung inwardly and serve as strengthening means along the edges of the tightening apertures.

According to another feature of the invention, the tightening apertures are extended across the fold lines 25 and 27 and into the lower portions of the side walls. Thus, supplementary flaps 60-65 are formed in the lower portion of side wall 20 and similar supplementary flaps 66- 71 are formed in the lower portion of side wall 21. Supplementary flap such as 60 is foldably joined to side wall 20 along fold line 72 and to the adjacent end edge of main reinforcing flap 46 by fold line 73 which is aligned with fold line 25.

In like fashion, the supplementary flaps 61-65 are foldably joined to the side wall 20 and to their associated main flaps while supplementary flaps 66-71 are foldably joined to side wall 21 and to their associated main flaps.

When the carrier is assembled from the blank as depicted in FIG. 4 into the completed set-up condition depicted in FIG. 1, the main and supplementary flaps are folded inwardly so that the flaps appear as indicated for example in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Thus the tightening aperture generally designated by the numeral 41 is defined by hinge lines 74 and 75 by which the main flaps 48 and 49 are adjoined to the bottom panel 24. As is apparent particularly from FIG. 3 these hinge lines 74 and 75 converge in the direction of tightening movement of the tightening element, i.e., away from the side wall 20 and toward the medial line of the carrier. Stated otherwise, fold lines 74 and 75 are disposed in diverging relation in the direction of side wall 20. Of course the can C rests atop the main flaps 48 and 49 as will be understood particularly from FIG. 3.

The supplementary flaps such as 62 and 63- are struck from the lower portion of side wall 20 and are foldably joined to the main flaps 48 and 49 respectively by fold lines 76 and 77 as can best be seen from FIG. 4. Supplementary reinforcing flap 62 is foldably joined to side wall 20 along fold line 78 while flap 63 is foldably joined to side wall 20 along fold line 79 as is best shown in FIG. 4.

From FIG. 4 it is apparent that fold lines 76 and 77 which interconnect the main and supplementary flaps 48, 62 and 49, 63 are aligned both with each other and with the fold line 25 interconnecting side wall 20 and bottom panel 24. While it is not absolutely essential that the precise orientation of fold lines as shown in the drawing be employed in order to achieve satisfactory results, the particular arrangement shown has been found to be quite satisfactory in that not only are the tightening apertures effectively strengthened and reinforced along the edges defined by hinge lines 74 and 75-, but the packaged articles C are securely anchored within the package by the supplementary flap parts such as 62 and 63 and the anchoring action thereof prevents the dislodgment of the packaged articles C through the open ends of the wrapper and also prevents undesired collision between adjacent cans C.

The main and supplemental flap structure provides several desirable features. They not only form the tightening apertures but they form edges around the apertures of double thickness thereby reinforcing those edges. Even more important, however, the particular relationship of the main and supplemental flaps of each pair is such that main flaps 48, 49 in the assembled carton are essentially fiat against the bottom panel, although they have an inherent tendency to spring back and thus to press against the bottom of the article. Supplemental flaps 62, 63, however, are not parallel with the side wall 20, but are at a substantial angle A with respect thereto, the angle in the example shown being approximately 50". This is caused by the fact that each fold line 78 extends at an angle to fold line 74, and thus each supplemental flap extends inwardly of the side wall to engage the lower end of the article C. As shown in FIG. 3, this occurs at spaced areas on opposite sides of the article, thereby forming a somewhat resilient seat or pocket for gripping and retaining each article in proper position in the carton.

The bottle carrier of FIGS. 5-8 is generally similar to the can carrier of FIGS. 1-4 and parts which are common to both carriers are identified with the same reference numerals.

Instead of can retaining tabs 2-5 which are employed in the can carrier of FIGS. 1-4, the bottle carrier of FIGS. 5-8 incorporates apertures 2a, 3a, 4a, 511, A1 and A2 for receiving parts of the caps of the packaged bottles in a manner well known in the art.

In order for the bottle carrier to conform with the bottle necks, the carrier side walls 20 and 21 are constructed with upper sloping portions 20a and 21a as is well known.

While the fold lines such as 78 and 79 for the supplementary bottle engaging parts of the flaps are generally parallel in the can carrier, it may be desirable in the bottle carrier to arrange these pairs of lines in such manner that they are angularly disposed with respect to each other and diverge in the direction of the fold line 25 or in a direction away from that fold line and thereby to achieve superior bottle gripping action and to facilitate formation of the package according to a feature of the invention.

In the drawings for both the can and bottle carriers the flaps 46-57 are shown at the bottom corners of the carrier. It is apparent particularly in the can carrier that the flaps could be at the corners between panel '1 and the side walls.

According to another aspect of the invention, the material from which the wrapper is formed may be of considerably lighter weight than would otherwise be possible due to the strengthening and reinforcement of the tightening apertures and due to the reinforcement of the article retaining apertures.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege. is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An article carrier comprising a tubular sleeve formed from a blank including a pair of walls joined together along a fold line and a pair of reinforcing and retaining flaps disposed at said fold line, each flap having a main part struck from one of said walls and foldably joined thereto, the fold lines for the main parts of the flaps being disposed in diverging relation to each other in the direction of the fold line between said walls, each flap having a supplementary part struck from the other wall and foldably joined thereto along a foldline disposed at a substantial angle to the fold line for the main part thereof.

2. An article carrier comprising a tubular sleeve formed from -a blank including a pair of walls joined together along a fold line and a pair of reinforcing and retaining flaps disposed at said fold line, each flap having a main part struck from one of said walls and foldably joined thereto, the fold lines for the main parts of the flaps being disposed in diverging relation to each other in the direction of the fold line between said walls, each flap having a supplementary part struck from the other wall and foldably joined thereto along a fold line disposed at a substantial angle to the fold line for the main part thereof, said main parts of said flaps being interposed between and in fiat face contacting relation with said one wall and the end of an article disposed within the carrier and said supplementary parts of said flaps being disposed at a substantial angle to said other wall and in substantially normal relation to said one wall and constituting article holding means.

3. An article carrier blank comprising a top wall, a pair of side walls foldably joined to the side edges of said top wall respectively, a pair of bottom panels foldably joined respectively to the edges of said side walls which are remote from said top wall, and a pair of reinforcing and retaining flaps disposed at the fold lines between said bottom panels and said side walls, each flap having a main part struck from a bottom panel and foldably joined thereto, the fold lines for the main parts of the flaps of each pair being disposed in divering relation to each other in the direction of the fold line between each side wall and the associated bottom panel each flap having a supplementary part struck from a side Wall and foldably joined thereto along a fold line disposed at a substantial angle to the fold line for the main part thereof.

4. A blank as defined in claim 3 wherein the fold lines for the supplementary parts of each pair of flaps are disposed in angular relation to each other.

5. A blank as defined in claim 4 wherein the angle of divergence between the fold lines for the supplementary parts of each pair is substantially smaller than the angle of divergence between the fold lines for the main parts of each pair of flaps.

6. A carrier formed from a blank as defined in claim 3 wherein the main part of each flap is folded into flat face contacting relation to the inside surface of the associated bottom panel and wherein the supplementary part of each flap is disposed at a substantial angle to the associated side wall.

7. A carrier according to claim 6 wherein the supplementary parts of each pair of flaps are disposed in inwardly protruding diverging relation to each other to define article retaining means for engaging a side of an article and wherein the main part of each flap is disposed underneath the bottom of the article.

8. A carrier blank according to claim 3 wherein each supplementary reinforcing flap and its associated main reinforcing flap are adjoined with a fold line which is aligned with the fold line between the associated side wall and bottom panel.

9. An article carrier formed from a blank and comprlslng a top wall, a pair of side walls foldably joined to the side edges of said top wall respectively, a pair of bottom panels foldably joined respectively to the edges of said side walls which are remote from said top wall, tightening apertures formed in said bottom panels, and main reinforcing flaps formed along the edgesof said tightening apertures and struck therefrom.

10. A carrier according to claim 9 wherein each tightening aperture is defined by a pair of hinge lines which converge toward each other in the direction of tightening and wherein a main reinforcing flap is foldably joined to each hinge line.

11. A carrier according to claim 9 wherein each tightening aperture extends across the fold line between the associated bottom panel and side wall and into such side Wall to form an article receiving aperture.

12. An article carrier formed from a blank and comprising a top wall, a pair of side walls foldably joined to the side edge of said top wall respectively, a pair of bottom panels foldably joined respectively to the edges of said side walls which are remote from said top wall, tightening apertures formed in said bottom panels, and main reinforcing flaps formed along the edges of said tightening apertures and struck therefrom, each tightening aperture extending across the fold line between the associated bottom panel and side wall and into such side wall to form an article receiving aperture, and supplementary reinforcing flaps struck from said side walls to define the portion of each aperture which is formed therein.

13. A carrier according to claim 12 wherein each supplementary reinforcing flap is foldably joined at its bottom edge to an associated one of said main reinforcing flaps.

14. A carrier according to claim 12 wherein each supplementary reinforcing flap is foldably joined to its associated side wall along a fold line which is generally normal to the fold line between such side wall and the associated bottom panel.

15. A carrier according to claim 2 wherein each article receiving and tightening aperture is formed by a pair of main reinforcing flaps and by a pair of supplementary reinforcing flaps.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/ 1962 Purdy. 2/1968 Farquhar 206 U.S. c1. X.R. 229-65; 220-12 

